Tales of Wonder Volume 1

Tales of Wonder #1

by Brian Phillips (Editor), Matthew Bianco (Editor), David Kern (Editor)

For centuries fairy tales have enlivened the imaginations of readers of all ages. More than just cautionary folklore with magical characters and strange scenarios, the greatest fairy tales exemplify the best that children’s literature has to offer, masterfully revealing deep truths that have the power to cultivate the moral imagination of readers, thus making them an essential part of any quality reading life. Tales of Wonder Volume I provided eight of the most popular fairy tales ever told, as recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Andrew Lang, Charles Perrault, and Hans Christian Anderson. No matter how old your students are (or if you are the student), this book offers a context for contemplative reading and deep thinking about the most lively, enjoyable, and transformative stories ever told.

Genres: Fairy Tales, Childrens

129 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Brian Phillips is the Director of CiRCE Consulting & the Headmaster of the CiRCE Academy. He also serves as a pastor in Concord, NC, where he lives with his wife and their four children.

Reviews

[Kristen Gebbia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Family read aloud with the kids. I did have to do some creative editing on the fly with The Little Mermaid (the descriptions of the Sea Witch and her castle would have been too much for one of my kids prone to nightmares). And I decided to not read aloud the fact that the wicked stepmother ate what she thought was Snow Whites heart and liver. Other that those instances, the rest of the stories seemed benign enough.

I appreciated the fact that the stories were more or less in their original form, and not “Disney-fied”. The short introductory paragraph giving the history of the story was interesting, and the discussion questions throughout the stories and at the end of each story were very helpful and thought provoking.

“When we moralize, we reduce ethics and morality to a set of propositions, as if knowledge of those propositions somehow guarantees true internalization of them” (pg 13)

“To tell a student to love his enemies is not nearly as powerful as presenting him with a story of someone loving an enemy. The former communicates a truth to the student, and, hopefully, the student will acknowledge its verity. It does not, however, impress upon him that acting on that truth is possible, nor does it reveal how to act on it” (pg 15)

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love fairy tales around here. I love this book even more because of some of the correlations it makes from the story to Scriptures. Cinderella compared to the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Little Red Riding Hood to the Fall. Beauty & the Beast to the Gospel story. Mind. Blown. It helped me and my children think through different aspects of story. Not all the stories are connected to Scripture but there are questions to go through while you are reading the story, after you read, and for deeper thought. Even comparing different aspects of character between some of the stories.

My children (currently 11, 9, 8) wanted to jump right into the next book. So we did! I anticipate different levels of engagement from each of them. We should revisit this when they are older to see how the conversation changes.

Highly recommend.

(There are some printing mistakes in my copies, and I would probably move question boxes in different areas for timing and anticipation)

[Christine Norvell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A splendid little collection! Discussion questions are interspersed within and after the stories and include thought questions about biblical parallels at the end of each one. I especially enjoyed the Lang version of "Beauty and the Beast," a wonderful and more-complicated contrast to Disney's.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud with the kids. The stories are great, as usual. I don’t love stopping in the middle of the story to ask about moral questions, so I did not do that. But some of the discussion questions at the end of pretty good.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up to read to the grandchildren, but fairy tales make good bedtime reading for Grammy too.

[Cheryl Neer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book delightful as well as its sequel Tales of Wonder Volume 2 (which I cannot find listed on GoodReads).

[Stephanie Bammes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids and I read this collection of Grimms and Andrew Lange retold fairy tales this year in homeschool. It can be quite shocking how different they are to the softer, tamer, Disneyized versions we are used to. We love fairy tales and enjoy discussing the connections between them and other stories and what the moral or meaning may be. This is a great place to start!

[Stacy Kooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just what I needed for a curated collection of fairy tales for my more sensitive boys.

[Sarah Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic fairy tales with questions along the way.

[Ammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the compilation and the discussion questions. We love fairy tales here, a bit more than I thought we did. Looking forward to volume two.